|
|
|
Overhaul of food-truck rules will be introduced in October
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
Overhaul of food-truck rules will be introduced in October
Andrew Gerson helped found the Philadelpha Mobile Food Association, and serves as its vice president. He also has a business, Strada Pasta, making fresh pasta with locally sourced ingredients. One thing this Philly food-truck evangelist doesn't have yet, though: An actual food truck. What with the outdated regulations currently governing the trucks in Philadelphia, he says it just doesn't make sense. "I haven't launched a truck yet, because it's very labor intensive. It's a 16-hour day, and if I can't sell enough volume in a day — which you can't at this point in Philly — it's not economically feasible. So I'm waiting another six to eight months to see what happens with this legislative change. It's very hard to make a living due to legislative drawbacks right now."
He may not have to wait too long. First District Councilman Mark Squilla says the city Law Department is reviewing legislation he worked on in collaboration with the PMFA and various city departments to clarify the rules around truck vending. He hopes to introduce a bill next month. "We're trying to work with the food truck association to come up with regulations and ordinances that the food truck vendors and the city all can agree on," he says. "We have no regulations from the Department of Licenses and Inspections on how they handle the food trucks. This will clarify a lot of the rules and regulations. I think it will be a big boost to the industry and also help the growth of the food truck market here."
Gerson says vendors are looking for several key changes to current regulations: First, to allow vending on private lots, which he says is now a "gray area." He says the only way to get a zoning for such a thing now is to get the lot zoned as a takeaway restaurant, but that comes with its own complications — like the fact that then every side of the food truck could be considered signage. "It's like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole." Second, to allow vending of takeout food after midnight, which is currently illegal. Third, to roll back the list of prohibited streets for food trucks — which now amounts to most of Center City — through a slowly expanding pilot program. "We're pushing to have four or five pilot locations on city streets, where trucks can operate," he says. They also want the L&I, Streets and Health departments to streamline their regulations.
The vendors have been advocating for the changes since January, but it's taken time to get the ball rolling. "We've had a lot of support, but no one's ever trying to change these things before. So we're starting from scratch."
- barstool scientist
- Booze
- Brew Revue
- Chef Salad
- Closings
- Coffee
- Contests
- Dealage
- Dirty Dishes
- Don't Front
- Eat This Immediately
- Field Trip
- Food and Art
- Food and Holidays
- Food and Movies
- Food and Music
- Food and Politics
- Food and Sports
- Food and Web
- Food Blogs
- Food Books
- Food Events
- Food News
- Food TV
- Gifted
- Happy Hour Hopper
- How-To
- In Print
- Interview
- Meal Ticket
- Menu Time
- Not So Quickfire
- Notes from the Weekend
- On Wheels
- Openings
- Patio Drinking
- Philly Beer Week 2010
- Photos
- Private Chef POV
- Product Placement
- Recipes
- Snack Time
- Stiff Drank
- SUPPER
- Tea
- Testing
- Ticket Stubs
- Top Chef
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Video
- Weekly Candy
- Weird Regional Foods
- We're Here to Help
- Where'd We Eat?
- Drew Lazor's Ill-Advised Rant Factory
- Pregame
- Ill-Advised Ranting
- The Week Without Meat
- Philly Beer Week 2009
- Real Big
- Where'd I Eat Last Night?
- Top Chef Masters
- The Good Word
- Next Iron Chef
- Arterial Terrorism
- Food and Radio
